The word from this Recode article is that Apple wants to be more than just Apple Pay to its customers, they want to be a bank. This probably surprises no one in the banking and payments industry. Many will recall the much talked about meeting that Apple held with big-bank executives over a year ago that was suspected to include conversations around partnerships for a P2P solution. Now that Apple Pay has been in market with only modest success, even after banks have spent millions of dollars on advertising, transaction fees and implementations in support Apple Pay, it looks like Apple might be looking at more of a go- it- alone strategy:
The company has recently held discussions with payments industry partners about introducing its own Venmo competitor, according to multiple sources familiar with the talks. The service would allow iPhone owners to send money digitally to other iPhone owners, these people said.
One source familiar with the plans told Recode they expect the company to announce the new service later this year. Another cautioned that an announcement and launch date may not yet be set.
Apple previously held talks with banks about such a service back in 2015 but did not end up launching anything.
If it happens this time, the new Apple product would compete with offerings from big U.S. banks as well as PayPal, its millennial-popular subsidiary Venmo, as well as Square Cash in the increasingly competitive world of digital money-transfers. Chase’s QuickPay service processed $28 billion in transfers last year, while Venmo registered $17.6 billion in volume and is still doubling year over year.
Overview by Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
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